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From: techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Keith Hood
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 11:24 AM
To: techwr-l <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Subject: A question for the list in general
Has anyone else seen this?
Lately, I've been seeing something in the behavior of staffing firms that bugs me. Whenever I respond to a message about a possible job opening, they ask for a lot of information like current location, availability, etc. And recently, a lot of them ask for the last 4 digits of my Social Security number, and my date of birth - month and year. The SSN, of course, is critical in identifying people in official government records, and under HIPAA rules, the 4-digit DOB is used for confirming ID in medical records.
As far as I can tell, this just started recently, in the last year. It used to be that every great once in a while, a recruiter would ask for the last
4 on the SSN, but it was because I was applying at a company where I had worked before, and the client company wanted it so they could confirm my identity in their records. I can't remember a recruiter ever asking for my DOB before last year.
So why are all recruiting agencies now asking me for this data right at the start as a normal matter of course? What legitimate reason could recruiters have for asking me to disclose to them the data that is most sought after by scammers and identity thieves?
I've had some tell me that they need it for distinguishing me in their records, which I say is a load. If all they want is a key for information about me in their database, they could just make up a number on their own - a fact which I have pointed out to more than one recruiter. The fact their have a field on their record keeping interface is NOT sufficient reason for me giving up critical secure information. A couple have told me that the client company they recruit for requires that data. In those cases I've asked for an explanation from the client company as to why they think they need that particular data, and I've never received any responses to those questions.
Any thoughts on this?
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